


Sunday Mornings

by chyeahnursey



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: AU, F/M, First Kiss, M/M, Minor/Background Relationships - Freeform, meet cute, slight miscommunication
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-18
Updated: 2016-09-18
Packaged: 2018-08-15 15:34:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8061901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chyeahnursey/pseuds/chyeahnursey
Summary: In which Dex has a crush, people are frequently hungover, miscommunications happen, freckles are compared to constellations, and a really terrible pickup line is used.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: We both live in the same apartment building but haven't ever talked and Sunday morning we're both doing the walk of shame
> 
> (This was also posted on my tumblr, but some slight changes have been made here!)

Dex tried not to groan as he pushed the button for his floor. Fuck, were the elevator lights always this bright? When his old college boyfriend had called yesterday, going out seemed like a great idea. Going back to his hotel room had seemed like a good idea too, but in retrospect, raiding the mini bar definitely wasn’t. 

"Hold the elevator!"

Dex did groan at that, but hit the "open door" button, because even as hungover as he was, he wasn't a fucking asshole.

The other person slid into the elevator, almost falling over his own feet. "Thanks man. I did not want to spend any more time in that hallway. I could feel the judgement from Mrs. Wilmer and she saw me for five seconds. "

Dex looked at him and recognized the guy who lived across from Lardo. He looked nearly as disheveled as Dex, his hair obviously rumpled, and was that a - yep, that was definitely a hickey where his t-shirt met his neck. Dex smirked at the guy. "She judges everyone. It looks like you had a good night though."

The guy smirked back at him, taking in Dex's similar appearance. "I could say the same thing."

"You wouldn't be wrong," Dex said, deadpan.

"Nice." The other guy nodded at him.

They stood in silence as the elevator went the last few seconds up to the 7th floor. Before getting off the elevator, the other guy held out his fist and bumped his knuckles against Dex's when he returned the gesture. "Nice," the guy repeated, and walked out of the elevator.

Dex managed to drag himself to the kitchen of his 10th floor apartment, where he drank two glasses of water, set an alarm, and passed out on his couch, the low voices of ESPN broadcasters on the tv in the background.

\---

Dex doesn't see the guy until the following Sunday morning, when he's the one running for the elevator. They're the only two people in the elevator, and he presses the button for the 7th floor, then looks questioningly at Dex. 

"Floor?" he asks.

"Oh, uh, 10," Dex answers. The guy presses the button for him. 

"Fun night?" 7th floor guy asks, eyeing Dex's obvious bedhead and rumpled t-shirt.

"Some college friends were in town," Dex told him, "Shots were involved. I think my liver hates me now."

7th floor guy laughed. "I'm pretty sure my liver has hated me since I was in college. You know what I've found is the best cure?"

"Do not say hair of the dog. I will actually throw up if you do." 

"Oh god no, whoever said that was a fucking moron. Nope, greasy food and good company is the best cure."

Dex arched his eyebrow. "I've never heard the good company part before."

The elevator doors slid open to reveal the 7th floor. 

"Maybe you just haven't been hanging out with the right company," the other guy said, stepping out of the elevator. He flashed a smile at Dex before heading to his apartment.  
The doors slid closed but Dex kept staring at the spot where the guy had been. That was... a pretty innocent comment right? Surely he was reading too much into it. Yep, definitely. 

\---

They meet in the elevator for the third Sunday in a row. Dex had been out with Shitty and Lardo, but had left Shitty’s apartment early that morning intending to go home and get some work done. 7th floor guy was already in the elevator standing with a short blonde man leaning against him, eyes closed. Dex saw the button had already been pushed for 7, and 7th floor guy reached out with his free hand to push the button for 10.

"Shhh," 7th floor guy said to Dex as he got in the elevator. "I think Bitty's dead."

"I am going to kill you," the blonde man told him. "I will poison you. With pie."

"You know you would never ruin a pie that way," 7th floor guy said, draping his arm around the other man's shoulders. "We'll go upstairs and change and then I'll take you out for breakfast."

"It was just a book launch, why did you let me get so drunk?" Bitty glared up at the taller man. 

"Me? I tried to stop you, but you said "Derek, they made a martini for every flavour of pie in my cookbook", and then you insisted you had to try them all."

Okay, Dex knew 7th floor guy's name now. And he wanted desperately to get off the elevator, but it was moving at a snail's pace and they were only on the 4th floor. 

"Ugh," Bitty groaned again. 

“ ’sokay Bits, we're almost home," Derek ran his hand through Bitty's hair. 

Dex looked away. Clearly, Derek had not been flirting with him last week. It had just been wishful thinking on his part. Considering Dex hadn’t dated anyone seriously since his college boyfriend, and they still had a tendency to hook up whenever they were in the same town, he was clearly just desperate for any attention from a cute guy.

When the bell dinged for the 7th floor and Derek and Bitty got off the elevator, Derek turned back to give him a little half wave. "See you around," Derek said.  
Dex gave him a little wave back, not saying anything. When he got back to his apartment, he drank 2 glasses of water, ate a granola bar, and passed out on his bed with his clothes still on. 

\---

Dex didn't see Derek for a couple of weeks, and Lardo wasn't commenting on his morose mood, but she had definitely noticed it. The two of them had known each other since Dex had started college, and although they had always been friendly, they hadn't really become friends until after Dex had graduated and was looking for a place to live. Lardo had told him about a couple openings in her building, and he had ended up with the 10th floor apartment. 

Lardo had been living in Providence since she'd graduated and had helped him out a lot when he'd moved in. They had dinner together once a week, usually, but they often met up for coffee or a movie or hung out to watch hockey games. Holster, Chow and Jack were all playing in the NHL, and watching three different teams kept them pretty busy during hockey season. Dex had worried he would wear out his welcome, but Lardo came up to his place unannounced just as often as he went down to hers. It was after one of their movie nights that Lardo finally brought it up. 

"Listen, Dex, I know Derek is wicked good looking, but are you sure he's actually dating this other guy? Like, are you getting yourself all worked up over nothing?"

"Oh, I don't know," Dex ran his fingers through his hair. "They seemed really cozy when I saw them. I know Shitty would say not to assume anything but like... it looked really couple-y."

"You know what this means," Lardo said, grabbing her laptop.

"Oh my god, we are not cyber stalking Derek," Dex groaned. 

"Of course we aren't, he's our neighbour, that would be weird," Lardo started typing something into the search bar. "You said the other guy's name was Bitty? And he wrote a cookbook?"

"Larissa."

"William," she said in a semi mocking tone. "Oh wait, I think I found him! Does this guy look familiar?" She showed him a photo of a very cute blonde man, hair perfectly styled, in front of a book display. He looked at it and nodded. "Okay, let's see - Eric Bittle, age 26, published his first cookbook this year. Oh, an Instagram account!" She clicked on the link for @ericbittle15 and brought up his page. They both paused. Derek was in practically every other photo. Eric's bio didn't say much, but Dex's attention was drawn to the fact that part of what it did say was "Gay."

"Quick, see if Derek has an account," Dex said.

"Oh, I thought we weren't checking out the hot neighbour?" Lardo teased, before clicking on one of the photos and finding a link to @dereknursey28. Derek's Instagram account definitely had more of a hipster aesthetic to it, but Eric was in a lot of the photos that actually featured people. His bio read "Poet. Writer. Pansexual. (No I don't like pans. Google it)."

"Huh," Lardo said. 

"Ughhh," Dex closed the laptop. "This was a mistake."

"But - " Lardo paused. "I mean, they were both pretty open about their sexualities, right? If they were dating, don't you think they'd have put that there too?"

"Maybe they just don't like to be obvious about it," Dex shrugged. "It doesn't really matter, I haven't seen him in weeks and we never really saw each other before this, so..."

"Okay dude," Lardo patted his head. "You'll be alright. Hey, you ready for the guys to come in next week?"

"Yeah, I can't believe I got stuck with Ransom and Holster again. I have the smallest apartment, how is this fair?" Dex appreciated the topic change and ran with it. 

"They kept breaking shit at Jack's place and they refuse to stay with me and Shitty," Lardo grinned. "So, you're the lucky winner."

"Lucky me. And again, why are we starting the party at my tiny apartment?"

"Because Shitty might actually keep his pants on there," she grinned at him. 

"Why am I friends with you people?" Dex asked, looking up at the ceiling. Lardo just laughed at him. 

\---

Given that three of their friends were NHL players, it was pretty hard to arrange time together. They tried to meet up whenever Chowder or Holster played in Providence- Ransom always made sure he had time off then so he could fly out and see them, and Farmer usually showed up with Chowder. Shitty was living in Boston and working for a non-profit, but came to Providence frequently to stay with Lardo, and made sure he was always there for the home opener and closer, and every other game he could get time off for in between. He still had the “Yo marry me Jack Zimmermann” sign that someone had made when they were at college, and would bust it out whenever he came to a game. During the summer, they usually managed a trip together at some point - it was usually on their side of the coast, since Shitty, Jack, Lardo and Dex were all there, and it tended to be easier to have people crash with them instead of trying to find hotel rooms for all of them - also, this kept them from getting thrown out of hotels, which Dex was a little ashamed to say had happened. More than once. 

It was during their annual get together that Dex saw Derek again. The last time Dex had seen him was permanently etched in his brain, and this didn't seem like it was going to end on a better note. The Samwell group had been hanging out at Dex's apartment after everyone got settled in - Shitty with Lardo, Chowder and Farmer with Jack, and Holster and Ransom at his place - playing some video games and drinking beer and catching up before heading out for dinner. 

As they were getting out of the elevator in the lobby, already loud and rambunctious, Jack and Lardo quietly making bets on how long it would be before they got kicked out of the restaurant, Dex saw Derek again. He'd been waiting a couple feet away from the elevator, chatting with Bitty when the ding of the elevator had attracted his attention and he'd looked up to see the group. He had started to raise his hand to wave at Lardo and Dex when his eyes went wide. And yeah, shit, that was usually the reaction people had when 3 NHL superstars tumbled out of their elevator. 

"Oh my lord," Bitty said. "Chris! Jack! What are you doing here?"

"Eric?" Jack had stopped dead, and Dex didn't think he was imagining the slight flush on his face.

"Bitty!" Chowder swooped down on him and scooped him up in a hug. "Bitty, this is Farmer, I told you about her, right? Farmer, this is Bitty!"

Farmer blinked once, then smiled. "Oh, you're the one who came and did a cooking workshop with the Sharks, right? Chris couldn't stop talking about it."

"Has he made you dinner yet? He said he was worried about it," Bitty asked, as Chowder put him back on the ground.

"Yeah, he made a great stir fry last week," Farmer said, smiling as Chowder's face went pink. 

"Are you confused? I'm confused," Dex whispered to Lardo. 

"Yup," Lardo said. 

"Oh hey, you can meet Holster now! Have you been to Seattle yet? Oh no wait you said you aren't getting there until next week right? Holster, meet Bitty! He's the greatest!" Chowder was babbling a mile a minute, Farmer was smiling at him, Shitty and Jack were having a whispered conversation off to the side, Ransom and Holster just looked confused, and Derek was smiling bemusedly at Bitty, who looked a little overwhelmed by Chowder's enthusiasm. 

Bitty stepped forward to shake Holster's hand. "Hi, Eric Bittle. I'm the nutritionist working with the NHL - I'm supposed to visit your team next week."

"I thought you made pies," Dex blurted out before he could stop himself. 

Bitty laughed. "Oh, my cookbook? That's more of a side project. It seems to be going over well though." He flushed a little. "And, um, sorry, I didn't catch your name last time? I was... a little under the weather." Derek laughed, a low, rich sound, and Dex could feel his ears turning pink. He didn't dare look at Lardo.

"Will, but I usually go by Dex."

"Nice to officially meet you, Dex." And then Bitty was shaking his hand and smiling at him, and Dex could totally understand why Derek was with him. That smile was pure sunshine, who wouldn't want it directed at them every single day? Then Bitty was introducing himself to Lardo, Shitty and Ransom, and Dex was trying to pull himself together. Dex couldn't even be properly jealous, because of course Bitty was actually just the nicest person to ever exist (well, maybe tied with Chowder). 

Dex caught up with the conversation just in time to hear Jack say they were headed out for dinner, and heard Shitty invite Derek and Bitty to come out with them. 

"Oh, I wouldn't want to intrude," Bitty said. 

"But if you don't come with us, how else can I hear about all of Jackie's cooking disasters?" Shitty was sporting the widest grin Dex had ever seen on him. 

"Shits," Jack hissed, digging an elbow into his side.

Bitty laughed. "Jack is a good cook! Tater is the one you have to watch out for." 

"Zimmermann, how much did you have to pay him to say that? We all know you live on chicken nuggets," Shitty demanded. "Come on Bitty, let's go. Tell me the truth on the way there, Jack’s hearing isn’t that great anymore cause he’s an old man, he'll never know."

"Aw Bits, you're not going to cook for me tonight?" Derek called after him as Shitty starts pushing him out the door.

"Your freezer is full of my cooking Derek, go feed yourself," Bitty managed to say over his shoulder before Shitty got him out on the sidewalk.

Lardo shrugged and headed towards the door. "Let's go, there's no stopping Shits now. You gonna come with us Derek?"

Derek shoots a look at Dex. "Okay, why not," he said, following Lardo out the door. The rest of the group headed for the sidewalk, and it seemed like the only two who noticed the weird tension were Jack and Dex. They exchanged a look, trailing at the back of the group, and Dex wondered if Jack was thinking the same thing as him. 

\---

At the restaurant, Dex found himself sitting at the end of the table, directly across from Lardo, with Derek to her right and Bitty on the other side of Derek. Shitty slid in next to Dex, Jack on his other side, and Ransom and Holster grab the other end of the table, leaving seats across from each other for Chowder and Farmer. 

"Watch out for the feet, Bitty," Holster said, leaning across the table. "Chow and Farmer like to play footsies." Chowder, who is sitting next to Bitty, goes bright red and Ransom and Holster laugh at the look on his face.

"Who doesn't like to play footsies?" Bitty arched an eyebrow and smiled, his eyes sliding over to Jack. Dex is pretty sure he didn’t imagine Jack nearly choking on his water. He made eye contact with Lardo and she arched an eyebrow. They aren't on the Ransom and Holster level of silent communication, but Dex knows her well enough to see she is equally confused about what the hell is going on, because it sure seems like Bitty is trying to hit on Jack while he’s sitting next to Derek. Shitty is the one who saves them. 

"So, Derek, how do you and Bitty know each other?" 

"Ha, that's a good story." Derek smiled. "We met 6 years ago at the coffee shop Bitty was working at. I was working on my first book and was into the very cliché 'writer in a coffee shop' thing, and Bitty would come and chat with me if the shop was empty."

"I was in my second year at the culinary institute, and I was working there on weekends to pay for school," Bitty added. "But I think that big snowstorm was the first time I really talked to you?"

Derek nodded. "Yeah, I was the only one stupid enough to go out that day - you gave me free pie and I helped you shovel out front so we didn't die when we left."

"Oh! And that was when we found out we were supposed to go to the same college," Bitty said. 

"The beginning of a beautiful friendship!" Derek chimed in, draping his arm around the back of Bitty's chair.

"You were you supposed to go to the same college?" Shitty asked. 

Bitty nodded. "Yeah, I had a hockey scholarship, I was a forward in high school, but before I accepted, the culinary institute offered me one too, and well, I really wanted to cook. And my league back home was co-ed and didn't have contact, so I had been pretty worried about how I would do on a college team."

"I had actually been accepted there, but I got a publishing contract and knew I couldn't finish the book and do school, so I deferred for a year and stayed in New York, but after I got published I just kept writing and, well, here I am." Derek shrugged. "Why did I need an English degree if I was already published? Kind of missed the hockey though, used to play defense."

“You guys both played hockey? ‘Swawesome! What college were you supposed to go to?” Ransom asked. “Maybe we would have played against you.”

"It’s not too far away from here actually - maybe you know it? Samwell?" Bitty asked.

The entire table stopped talking and stared at Bitty and Derek. 

"No fucking way."  
"Samwell? For real?"  
"You mean we could have been friends YEARS AGO???!!!"

Derek and Bitty looked confused as everyone started talking at once.

"Quiet!" Lardo barked. Immediate silence. "Sorry, you're saying that both of you were supposed to go to Samwell? And be on the hockey team?" Lardo asked. "A hockey team with almost every single person sitting at this table - sorry Farmer."

"Wait, all of you went to Samwell?" Bitty looked around the table. 

"Chyeah," Ransom said. "Holster and I were d-men, so was Dex, Shitty and Jack were forwards, Chow was goalie, and Lardo was our manager."

"And Farmer was on the kick ass volleyball team," Farmer added, glaring a bit at Ransom for forgetting her. 

"Oh, the volleyball team," Holster and Ransom sighed in unison and Farmer waggled her eyebrows at them. 

"Wow," Bitty looked stunned. 

"Brah, this is like, destiny," Shitty waved his hands expansively and both Jack and Dex have to duck. "Aw, you would have given Chow and Farmer a good competition for the couple to get fined the most."

"What!" Bitty squawked. 

"Who, us?" Derek burst out laughing. "Uh, no. We went on the most awkward first date ever and agreed never to bring it up again, but we are definitely not dating."

"And yet here you are, bringing it up," Bitty said dryly. "See if I make you any more pies."

"Aw, you say that, but you know you can't eat all the pies you make by yourself, and they'll find their way to my freezer eventually because I am, in fact, your best friend and you love me."

"Perhaps I will send them to some of my new NHL friends," Bitty crossed his arms. 

"I’m not in the NHL, but I love pie, just so you know Bitty," Lardo tells him. "Also I live across the hall from Derek so you can torture him with the sweet, sweet smell of baking and then we can send him snapchats while we eat it."

"You are pure evil, Larissa Duan," Shitty nodded approvingly at her. 

"This is so not chill," Derek slumped in his seat and looks up at the ceiling. Dex laughed at the mournful expression on his face, and very carefully did not notice Lardo’s little smile. 

\---

When it's time to leave, Bitty plucked the bill out of the waiter's hand and insisted that he pay for everyone. Jack tried to fight him on it, but Bitty looked at him and said "Mr. Zimmermann, you might be an NHL player, but I am currently employed by every team in the NHL. Are you saying you don't think I can pay for dinner?" And that pretty much settled it. 

They're all headed back to Dex and Lardo's apartment building when Lardo falls into step with Dex.  
"So."  
"So."  
She grabs his hand, gives it a squeeze. "I say you go for it."  
"Yeah?"  
"Yeah." 

\---

There's an awkward pause when they get back to the lobby of the building. 

"So, I don't know what your plans were, but I have beer and a couple of Bitty's pies..." Derek trailed off. 

"Pie!" Ransom and Holster shouted in unison. 

"You sure you want these idiots in your apartment?"

"Lardo!" Shitty pretended to be scandalized. 

"Nursey's already broken everything that can be broken," Bitty smirked. 

"I'm not that clumsy," Derek protested. "But seriously, you can come over, no worries." 

“Nursey?”

“Hockey nickname,” Bitty told Dex.

"Thanks Nursey!" Chowder smiled at Derek. They squished themselves into the one elevator, and Dex found himself at the back, pressed up against Derek's left side. He could feel the heat from his body and smell his cologne and Dex was probably going to be a dead man before they even got to the 7th floor. He tried to focus on Shitty and Lardo's conversation on his other side, in hopes that would be enough of a distraction from Derek. It wasn't. The ride seemed longer than usual, and when the doors opened on the 7th floor, Dex was eager to get out and put some space between him and Derek. So of course the universe forced them closer together, and as Derek stepped out behind him, he managed to trip over absolutely nothing and fell forwards towards Dex. Dex somehow managed to catch his arms and keep him upright, but it also put him about six inches away from Derek's lips. Which was still about six inches too far away, but before he could do anything stupid, Derek was already pulling away. 

"Shit, thanks," he said, holding eye contact with Dex even as he moved away. 

"Guess you are as clumsy as Bitty said, huh?" Dex tried for a chirp, though he might have come off as a little mean. 

"Don't tell the others," Derek said, and winked at him. Bitty already had Derek's apartment door open, and the Samwell group was arranging themselves on the available furniture. Shitty and Lardo disappeared for a minute, then came back with the two beanbag chairs from Lardo's apartment. Shitty claimed one and Dex ended up sprawled out on the other with Lardo. Bitty and Derek brought beer and pie from the kitchen, and Derek ended up sitting on the floor close enough to Dex that his foot brushed against Dex's ankle when he told a particularly animated story. Dex is content to sit and listen to everyone else talk, and he thinks about how comfortably Bitty and Derek fit in with the group, and what it might have been like if they had ended up at Samwell. There would have been more pie, probably, but it feels even more like family than their gatherings usually do, and that would have been nice in college too. He’s zoned out of the conversation a bit, thinking about it, but catches the tail end of Jack and Shitty telling the story of Jack fending off the football team with a fire extinguisher. Ransom and Holster are full of embarrassing stories about all of them and are happy to regale Bitty and Derek with them. Derek tells them about Bitty’s martini fiasco, and Bitty retaliates by pulling out Derek’s first volume of poetry. It gets passed around the group before Ransom and Holster get their hands on it. They drop out of the conversation for a bit as they flip through the poems. 

"What's this poem about?" Holster asked during a lull in the conversation. 

Derek peered over Holster's shoulder. "Oh, the galaxies represent freckles. I went through a phase when all of my poems were about an old boyfriend."

Ransom and Holster fall over each other cackling. "Oh my god, Dex, remember that guy you hooked up with in second year-" 

"- who said he loved your freckles-"

"-and left hickeys all over you before a game-"

"-because he wanted to kiss every freckle?"

Dex's face turns a deep red. "Fuck you guys, that was years ago."

"I'm pretty sure that dude was a vampire," Ransom tells him, Holster nodding in agreement.

"I hate you both."

It's not until Chowder yawns that anyone realizes how late it is, and they start to head out. Shitty and Lardo drag the bean bags back across the hall, Dex tosses his keys to Ransom and Holster with the intention of hanging out with Shitty and Lardo for a bit before going to bed, and Chowder and Farmer are ready to head out with Jack. There's a quiet conversation between Jack and Bitty at the door of the apartment, and then Bitty goes "Bye Derek!" and practically bolts out the door. Derek and Dex stare at each other. 

"Did Bitty just leave with Jack Zimmermann?" Derek asks him.

"It would seem so," Dex replied, still staring at the door. 

"They did spend most of the night talking," Derek mused.

"Jack blushed when he saw Bitty, I think there’s something they’re not telling us," Dex said. "Not that it's any of our business."

"Nope, it really isn't. But I'm still going to ask him for deets tomorrow." Derek looks around. "Aren't Holster and Ransom staying with you? Where'd they go?" 

"They already went back to my apartment, I usually hang out with Shitty and Lardo for a bit."

"Oh, are they like... not friends?"

"What? No, they get along fine. Ransom and Holster are just... loud... so Shitty and Lardo let me hide with them for an hour or so."

"Are you getting sexiled from your own apartment?" Derek was clearly holding back a laugh.

"I mean - when you put it that way - yeah," Dex sighed. 

"I know something we could do for an hour or two," Derek took a step closer, his eyes darkening and focusing in on Dex.

"Is that a really terrible line?" Dex asked him. "Because even if it wasn't, that was like, not good. Seriously."

"I've never had complaints before," Derek is dangerously close to pouting and it really shouldn’t be attractive on a grown ass man, but unfortunately it is. 

"You might need to do better than that," Dex tells him. 

"Ever since I saw you the first time in the elevator with that hickey on your neck, I've wondered what it would be like to give you one. The second time, I wanted to be the company you went to breakfast with. The third time, and you have to know that I love Bitty, okay, like the dude is my best friend, but honestly I had never been so frustrated to have to look after him while he was drunk when all I could think about was going up the extra three floors to your apartment and spending the day with you there."

"Oh," Dex said eloquently, feeling a blush working its way across his face and up his ears. 

"We could do the Sunday morning elevator ride together on purpose," Derek offers. Dex knows his blush has gotten darker. He swallows audibly. For all that Lardo had seemed convinced Derek liked him, Dex hadn't thought this would actually happen, or that Derek would be the one to initiate it if it did. Derek took another step closer, not quite in Dex's personal space, but very close to it. "What do you think?"

Dex decided to skip the words and stepped forward, putting a hand on Derek's cheek and leaning in for a kiss. He slid his other hand down Derek's side and pulled him closer, Derek sighing into his mouth and looping his hands behind Dex's neck to get as close as he could. They stood in the middle of the living room kissing, Dex's hands now around Derek's shoulders and Derek's hands moving to his waist until they both had to pull back to breathe. 

"Bedroom?" Dex asked, deciding to be bold for the moment. 

Derek smiled at him, and if Dex had though Bitty's smile was like the sun, then Derek's was brighter than a supernova.

**Author's Note:**

> \---  
> The morning after  
> \---  
> The next morning, everyone dragged themselves down the street to a little hole in the wall diner that Lardo had found when she’d first moved there. Dex and Derek managed not to run in to anyone on their way out of the apartment building, which meant Dex got a couple extra chirp free minutes. Derek had lent him a shirt, but it was pretty obviously not Dex’s style, and anyways, Ransom and Holster would have figured out pretty quickly that he wasn’t in the apartment this morning. 
> 
> "Over here!" Ransom waved at them from a table on the other side of the room. They made their way over and found cup of coffee and a carafe already waiting for them on the table. They sat down, the last ones there, and Derek had just taken a sip when Holster returned.  
> "Morning Dex, morning Edward Cullen," he said, laughing as Derek almost spit his coffee out across the table.  
> Dex went bright red and clapped a hand over his neck.  
> “So Bitty, I guess you got a ride with Jack this morning?” Derek asked, deflecting the group’s attention onto Bitty and Jack. Dex nudged his elbow in thanks and Derek smiled at him as Ransom and Holster started cheering and Shitty hollered for deets. 
> 
>  
> 
> \---  
> Why Edward Cullen you ask?  
> All the other vampires are too cool and don't provide as good a chirping opportunity. Also Holster is a pop culture nerd and would definitely have seen/been dragged to the Twilight movies with his sisters.  
> \---


End file.
